Touch Me

Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Covid-19, Coronavirus, lockdown, this situation, self-isolation, this shizzle...whatever you call the last few months it doesn't matter. It has been strange, weird, and sometimes downright scary. But what has it meant for you?

For me it has meant having my family at home, all together, no international travel taking my other half away for weeks. No running around with the kids to whatever social occasion is this week. We have chilled and watched tv, we have finished making our new house a home, we have cooked and eaten together, baked, tried new foods, garden DIY projects as a family. I will not pretend it is all sunshine and roses but if this is what it takes to save lives and make sure our health service could cope, I'll take it gladly. I had nightmares about a situation like this when I was a teenager and the reality is nowhere near as bad!

Its been about three months of distancing from friends and family. Of only going out to shop and walk the dog. Of working from home and not seeing my amazing work colleagues. Its taken three months for me to seriously miss one thing:

I miss touch, not in a creepy way, but I miss that human physical connection. I am luckier than a lot of people, I have my family at home and I don't live alone. But I am a hugger! I am that work friend that greets you every morning with a hug. If I know I'm not going to see you in a while you know that a squeeze is coming to tide me over as much as anything else. I need that physical connection and that is what I miss from this lockdown...hugs!

Initially, it was just another thing, then I was talking to people through windows and started to feel it more keenly and it has taken three months for me to feel it physically. I find it so hard to keep that distance and not jump on in and squeeze you to know all is ok. And so if I avoid seeing you at a distance please don't be offended, if I divert conversations and interaction to zoom calls and messenger chats please don't think it's because I don't want to see you...It's because I don't trust myself to maintain that 2m distance, I do it to protect yours and my personal space!

And know that as soon as the all-clear is given I will be catching up on hugs!!

For now, stay safe, stay smiling and hug those that you can!

Happy feet

You can all breath a sigh of relief, today is not going to be another depressing, thought provoking or down right morbid post! I know I have been there for a few weeks but today we had a snow day.

Now that word for most Britain's is something to strike fear into their hearts, I mean seriously as a country we don't deal with the white powdery stuff very well at all!! However in our house the other half kind of .... how to describe the level of his excitement .....

Yep, that about does it.

Me, I was just glad to get an extra hour under the duvet before I had to get up and start to contemplate clearing the drive. School might be closed but jobs still need to be done!

Honestly, leave me in there and you have one happy Joe....Sleepy Joe (it's all in the name). Or even let me get back in at some point, like when I have been shoveling snow and I am seriously cold. Let me slide between the sheet and duvet, let me curl up, let me warm up. I don't necessarily need to go to sleep, a cosy story time is just fine too.

Anyway that was our day yesterday, I did also want to post a picture of the worlds best snowman....however it seems I am not raising snow sculptors  I am raising great big wusses! After about half an hour came the cry, "I'm cold, I'm going inside!" So now we have a snow mound on our lawn and lots of footprints (Grrrr does anyone else prefer untouched snow? Sooooo pretty!). I was tempted to just lob the hat and scarf on top and say it was a snowman mid-death, but then I would have to wash said hat and scarf when they came back in. Nah heading for the duvet was a much better plan, who am I kidding the girls take after their Mum!!

Here instead is a link to some snowman comedy that I discovered today. For those of you that are not sensitive, Google 'funny pictures of snowmen' and marvel at others imagination for snow creations!!!